


Dance The Night Away

by Lady_of_the_Blade



Category: Dance Central (Games), Original Work
Genre: Dancing, F/F, F/M, Gen, One Sided Rivalry, Other, Sorry Not Sorry, i wrote this in like, jaxie is a mess, ninth grade, not a lot of romance, not to mention kind of a mess, oblio is oblivious, this is kind of a pet project of mine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23182924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_of_the_Blade/pseuds/Lady_of_the_Blade
Summary: Jaxie is an ordinary girl who loves to dance. Her parents and older brother are more than happy to indulge her too. But when Jaxie’s brother, Rez, gets in a car accident and loses the ability to use his legs, she decides to live the life he never could; as a dancer. So she moves to Central City, the home of the best dancers in the world, to win the World Jam.
Relationships: Miss Aubrey/Emilia (Dance Central), oblio/jaxie, oblio/ofc, oblio/original female character
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Dance The Night Away

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah, this is a thing that i've wanted to do for a while, but i was kinda scared of posting it out of fear of it sounding like some ninth grader's badly written fanfic. 
> 
> which, now that i think of it, it probably does OTL
> 
> well, it's out there now, so i might as well live with it. 
> 
> i'll post more if people want me to, i don't want to write something and post it only for people to get annoyed or worse, hate it and me for it. 
> 
> enjoy it, i guess!

I guess I should start this normally, like, with a backstory or something, but I’m not normal. If anything, I’ll at least start with my name. Hi, I’m Jaxie, nice to meet you. No, I’m not giving out my last name, I’m not an idiot. 

Now, unlike most stories, I’m just going to go ahead and jump right into the nitty gritty. 

* * *

I weaved through the small diner, balancing several dishes piled with food--if you could even call it that. To me, it all just looked like the same greasy disgusting stuff you’d find in the back of your fridge. And it’s been there since the dawn of time. And you only ate it because you were too lazy to make something else. 

I’m getting off track, sorry.

I managed to get to the customers waiting for their food--a conservative-looking couple and their screaming baby-- and picked up their dirty dishes in turn. And without saying a word, they started eating, and I took my leave. Jerks. 

Once again, I navigated my way through the run-down diner and into the back. I pushed my back against the door and entered the kitchen, where my brother, Rez, was currently struggling to duct-tape one of the spokes of his wheelchair back together. My heart hurt just watching him.

“Hey, Jax, you think you could help me?” he said, sending me a small grin over his glasses. I quickly set the dirty dishes on the counter and took the duct tape roll from my brother and finished wrapping the spokes in a thick layer of duct tape. “Thanks,” he said, sounding relieved to take some stress off his back from sitting in an awkward position. He sighed, “sooner or later, there’s gonna be more duct tape than wheelchair at this point,” he wheeled his way over to the sink and started piling more dishes on. 

I guess I should explain the wheelchair. And why I felt so shitty whenever I saw it.

You see, my brother and I grew up with a love of dancing. I was five when I first showed interest, and Rez jumped on it quick. Whenever there was a street dance, my brother would take me to see it. We would watch World Jam every year, and root for our favorite crews. 

Rez and I both wanted to become dancers, and have the best crew in the city. 

But a couple winters back, I really felt like getting some hot chocolate, and my brother was all for it. But the roads were extremely icy that day. A semi skidded and t-boned my brother’s car. I later woke up in the hospital with a mild concussion, but Rez…

“Table six, order up!” I remembered where I was, and like clockwork, rushed to the window and retrieved the food. I shook my head. No time for that, Jax. Try to stay in the present. I opened the door and went to deliver table six their food. By now, the diner had cleared out some, and a few people were left straggling. When I got to the table, the only ones there were a teenage couple, a brunet boy and blonde girl.

“I’m telling ya, stacy,” the brunet said with a slight accent, “there needs to be more places for us teens to hang out in.” I set their food in front of them and he immediately turned his attention to me. “Hey you, what’s your name?” 

A little put off by the sudden attention, I simply said, “uh, Jaxie?”

“See, Jackie here is like, the only teenager in this joint,” he gestured wildly to me, the blonde girl--obviously named stacy--boredly looking at her nails. 

“That’s nice, todd,” she said noncommittally, “but this isn’t the only place in town, y’know.”

Feeling a bit awkward standing there and listening to their conversation, I walked away, tucking my tray under my arm.

That Todd guy did have a point though. People my age almost never come to the diner, and to be honest, it would be nice to see some faces besides drunk middle-aged men, overly conservative families, or burly, smelly bikers. Maybe it was time for a bit of a change. 

* * *

The next morning, I woke up early, wearing my favorite dance outfit, which consisted of a distressed crop top with capri pants and converse shoes, and carrying my brother’s old boombox to the entrance of Cal’s Diner. 

I set it down and started stretching. It was currently around 6 or 7 am, which means students are starting to get ready to leave for school. Hell, a few of them were already waiting at the nearby bus stop. This was the perfect opportunity for my big idea. 

I leaned down and started fiddling with the boombox, trying to find a good dance station. It was early, so not a lot of good dance songs were playing at the moment, which made my hunt just a little harder. 

I peeked out of the corner of my eye and noticed some of the teenagers looking my way in curiosity. Perfect. 

I stopped messing with the dials when I heard a familiar song start playing. Oh, this was gonna be _good._

I turned up the volume as loud as comfortably possible and moved to the center of the sidewalk. I pointed to the teenagers who were looking at me, as if daring them to look away from this show, and rolled my wrist away from them, spinning my forearms in a small circle before throwing them above my head and bringing them down slowly. As the music accelerated, I thumped my chest above my heart and brought my fist back above my head, my feet tapping and moving to the beat. Bringing my fist back down, I put my hands on my hips, bringing them up and back around my head, punching the air beside me as I pulled them from my head and back down to my hips. 

By now, i had gathered a crowd, and from what i could see, it looked like Rez just showed up to watch too. I gave him a smile and silently said, ‘this one’s for you, big bro’ as i leaned back as far as i could and pointed at the crowd, slowly bringing myself back up. 

Then the beat dropped. 

And so did i.

I heard the crowd gasp a little and then cheer as i twisted and caught myself, snapping my body back into an upright position and kicking my legs out as i spun in place , stopped, crossed my hands over my head, leaned far to the right, almost falling again, but catching myself and spinning in the other direction, my feet sliding underneath me like there was no friction between me and the ground. 

I heard cheers and laughter. I felt my heart race and my cheeks burn from smiling. But i didn’t care. This was what i was meant for, this is what i was born to do. To _dance._

Before i knew it, i wasn’t even following the choreography anymore, i was just letting the music move my body, feeling loose and free. There was no more diner, no more busy streets, no more worries. There was only me, the crowd, the music, the dance. It was like I was in my own personal nightclub, neon lights pulsating to the music around me, my own hands flowing with neon light. In that moment, the cheers getting loud, the music making my heart soar, there was nothing that could stop me--

“What the hell is going on here?!” The sudden voice startled me out of my moment, making me trip over my boombox, effectively stopping the music short, and making me pinwheel my arms, trying to regain my balance, before falling flat on my ass and into the nearby garbage. 

I heard the familiar squeak of Rez’s wheelchair wheels approach me as I struggled to get myself out of the pile of rancid garbage. He reached a hand to me and I gratefully took it, pulling myself out of the trash. 

As i was dusting myself off, i heard that same pissed-off voice yelling at people to get out of here and mind their own business. Finally getting a chance to look, I realized that the voice belonged to the owner of the diner, Cal. 

Oh shit.

After the crowd had dispersed, he stormed over to me and Rez, and pointed furiously at my setup. 

“And what the hell were _you_ thinking?!” he fumed, “that kinda stunt is just gonna bring around more of those damn rowdy teenagers!” 

I was incredulous.

“Then why’d you hire me and my brother? _We’re_ practically still teenagers!” I argued.

“Apparently so,” he scowled, switching his glare between me and my brother sporadically, “I hired _him_ outta pity, and I needed a new dishwasher anyway,” he said, pointing at Rez, who shrunk a little under his harsh glare, which he then turned on me. “As for _you_ ,” he pointed back to my setup, “i want you to get your shit outta your old locker! I don’t need no teenage waitress if she’s gonna cause a disaster like this!” 

Did…

Did he seriously just _fire me???_

“What, are ya deaf? Get the hell outta here!” he yelled again before storming over to the door of the diner and unlocking it, stepping inside and closing the door before letting out a long string of expletives that i’d rather not repeat in case there’s a younger audience out there.

I turned to Rez, who only looked at the pavement before wheeling away, leaving me alone on the now empty sidewalk, still covered in garbage. 

But now _I_ was the one who was fuming. I was _pissed_ . I didn’t care that that jerk just fired me, I could always find other work. But Rez _couldn’t._ His disability wouldn’t let him get many good jobs. And now, hearing that Cal just hired him out of _pity_ … because of that, one more misstep could very well mean the end of Rez’s career, and he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. 

And that mother trucker _knew it._ God, I have never wanted to punch a guy’s lights out more than at that moment, but there was nothing I could do. Not if I wanted Rez to keep his job. 

I walked over to the old boombox and picked it up. It still looked playable, thank god. 

Which was necessary for what I was planning on doing next.

* * *

_TWO MONTHS LATER_

* * *

I set down my two heavy suitcases on either side of me and faced the guy in the ticket window. He regarded me boredly before sighing and starting to tap on his computer. 

“Round-trip or one way?” he yawned. 

“One way.” I replied resolutely. Tonight was the night that i was going to leave this stupid small town. I only hoped that my mom didn’t--

“There you are!” 

\--follow me. Dammit.

“I told you i’d find her, it’s a mother’s intuition.” i heard my mom say before i turned around and saw her marching towards me, with Rez in tow. 

“Mom, she left a _note_ , it’s not like we didn’t know where she was going,” he said with a raised eyebrow. 

“Oh, nevermind,” mom waved him off and turned on me, “pick up that luggage, young lady. You are coming home right now.” 

I mentally prepared myself. I kinda figured mom would react this way. But this is what i wanted... _needed_ to do. 

“No, mom,” i said, “this is what i want to do. I want to go to Central City, join a crew, maybe even get on the World Jam! This is the only way i can live my dream.” 

She looked at Rez and simply said “talk to your sister,” 

But before he could even say anything though, mom started again. “Just because you had one bad mishap doesn’t mean you should leave! You can still dance here, in your hometown, with your family.” she practically begged. 

“Mom, i’ll never be someone here. I want to get out there, I want to dance, I want to _be_ somebody.” it hurt my heart to say it, but it needed to be said. 

“You _are_ somebody,” she said, before picking up one of my suitcases, “somebody who is _not_ getting on that train.” 

“ _Yes_ , I am,” i shot back, starting to get frustrated. Don’t get me wrong, i love my mom, she’s caring and kind and was our rock before our dad ditched us when Rez and i were kids. But she’s also overprotective, and honestly, kind of overbearing too. 

She pinched the bridge of her nose and turned back to Rez. “ _talk to her,_ ” she said, clearly as frustrated as i was. 

Rez didn’t say anything for a minute. Then, without a word, simply rolled up to the window. 

“One ticket for Central City,” he said, pulling out his wallet to pay for it.

“Where are _you_ going?” mom asked, incredulous.

“Not me,” he replied, and handed the fresh ticket to me, “her.” needless to say, i was surprised, and very happy. I heard mom gasp behind me, clearly in disbelief. 

Rez picked up my other suitcase and set it in his lap as he wheeled himself beside me, leading me to the train platform. “Hey Jax,” he started, “you remember dad?”

“Uh, a little bit,” I answered.

“Well, when we were kids, I remember him telling us about how he wanted to be a musician,” he set my suitcase on the ground before pivoting himself to face me. “But his parents didn’t want him to pursue a career in music, so he became a plumber, settled down, and the rest is history.” 

“Where are you going with this, bro?” I asked, confused.

“Well, don’t get me wrong, i like this timeline and all, but if i had the chance to go back in time...well...i’d find him and tell him to live his dream.” he then looked up at me with the most heartfelt look i’ve ever seen on him. “Just like I'm telling you, sis. You’re great, and you’re talented, and you’re passionate. Those are all the makings of a great dancer if i’ve ever seen one.” he smiled and pressed the ticket into my hand, closing my fingers over it. “You go to central city, you dance and you dance and you _dance the night away_ , and you show them all exactly what you’re made of.” he then put his hand on my shoulder. “And jaxie? Never, _never_ give up.” I was near tears as I hugged him tightly. 

God, i was already gonna miss him, but with him giving me his blessing, i was almost ready to rip up the ticket and stay after all. 

Almost. I’m not an idiot. 

I let him go and turned to mom, who was close to having her own waterworks. Her shoulders slumped as she walked over and handed me my other suitcase in silent resignation and acceptance. 

I set it down and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. I was gonna miss her too, like crazy. And I knew they were both gonna miss me too, but just knowing that they were ready to accept this and let me go live my dream gave me all the hope and resolve I needed to finally pull away from the hug and wipe away the oncoming tears. 

“I’ll make you proud,” i said, “i promise”

I then picked up both my suitcases, walked through the train doors, and waved goodbye to my family, my home, and my past. 

I took a seat at one of the windows, my luggage tucked under my seat, plugged in my headphones, and prepared myself for what was ahead. 

* * *

Some people regret leaving their homes and families for their dreams, later wishing they’d stayed instead. 

Well, I'm not one of those people. I love my family, they’re amazing and they’ve been there for me in the hardest of times. 

But I've never once regretted getting on that train.


End file.
